Regarding the March 16 article "Ishihara sorry for quake gaffe": Recently the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has harangued, harassed and goaded anyone in the ruling party (Democratic Party of Japan) who has made the slightest and most unintentional of errors — so much so that a vital DPJ leader like Seiji Maehara was forced to quit as foreign minister (for accepting a political donation from a longtime friend who is a Japanese resident of Korean nationality).
Yet, when it comes to the LDP itself or someone it supports, the party turns a blind eye to the most insidious of actions. If anyone else in a position of authority had made a comment as despicable as Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's concerning "divine punishment" on the Japanese, he would have already resigned.
I watched a TV interview in which someone tried to mildly rebuke Ishihara for his comment. He didn't show any genuine remorse; he just shrugged off the question and criticism, his eyes cold and still as he sat there. So, in a sense, he was implicitly repeating his suggestion that the many thousands of dead, injured, homeless, ill, old and young Japanese victims of the worst calamity since America bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima had gotten just what they deserved!
When will the people of Tokyo understand that Ishihara is the least appropriate person to have in any office, let alone the top one? If Ishihara had a shred of decency, he would quit now.